You spend your whole lifetime
â
You spend your whole lifetime in your occupation,
actually making life clever,
easy and convenient for white people.
But when you have to get transportation home,
you are denied an equal accommodation.
Our existence was for the white man's comfort and well being;
we had to accept being deprived of just being human.
â
Meaning
This quote means Black labor was used to make white life easier while Black people were denied even basic dignity in return.
About Author
Rosa Parks
Rosa Parks was an American civil rights activist celebrated for her pivotal role in the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Her quotes often reflect courage, justice, and dignity. Parks inspires activists, students, and citizens to stand against injustice, embrace civic responsibility, and advocate for equality and human rights.
Related Quotes
â Each person must live their life as a model for others. â
This quote means every person should live in a way that sets an example. Personal conduct teaches others.
â I was born 50 years after slavery, in 1913. I was allowed to read. My mother, who was a teacher, taught me when I was a very young child. The first school I attended was a small building that went from first to sixth grade. There was one teacher for all of the students. There could be anywhere from 50 to 60 students of all different ages. â
This quote reflects on being born after slavery but still within segregation, and on how education from her mother shaped her early life.
â I had felt for a long time that, if I was ever told to get up so a white person could sit, that I would refuse to do so. â
This quote means her resistance had been forming inside her long before the famous incident. She had already decided she would refuse that injustice.